Independent Tesla investor and analyst James Stephenson took to X today to emphasize the staggering growth in Tesla’s unit sales.
Stephenson pointed out that the magnitude of Tesla’s year-over-year growth often gets overlooked due to the visual limitations of traditional charts.
He explained that while charts may show consistent growth, they fail to capture the relative increase in sales over time. “Without a good frame of reference, it’s hard to appreciate how much more Tesla is beating their previous records by,” he said.
What gets lost with some of my charts is the magnitude of just how many more people are buying a Tesla every year. "It's right there on the chart, James, how could we miss it?"… I hear you asking.
Well, to illustrate what I mean, here's a chart I could have posted 3 years ago… pic.twitter.com/fQclTv5jQu
— James Stephenson (@ICannot_Enough) October 3, 2023
As an example, he noted that Tesla has increased unit sales by more than 500,000 vehicles over the past 12 months, a figure that would be “literally off-the-chart” if plotted on a chart from three years ago.
Check out the crazy chart below:
Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to Stephenson’s analysis, stating, “Your predictions have been very accurate.” Musk further added, “Aspiring to be less wrong is the way.”
The exchange between Stephenson and Musk highlights the challenges in visually representing Tesla’s exponential growth and underscores the company’s remarkable performance in the electric vehicle market.
Tesla announced its Q3 numbers yesterday, revealing over 435,000 cars delivered, growth of 27% year-over-year.